Chapter 1492 Bad News Comes in Waves <TOC> Chapter 1494 Breaking the Cage
Translator: SumTLMan
Watching Alex slowly descend from the watchtower, his silhouette merging with the dark night and disappearing from view, Father Bertrand let out a soft sigh: “What was bound to come has finally arrived.”
After returning to his room, Alex lit an oil lamp and gazed quietly out the window.
Although he was unsure what the previous scream signified, he faintly heard noises of commotion coming from the street as time passed.
“Have they appeared again?” This was the question in Alex’s mind. Moreover, he had grown skeptical of Father Bertrand, feeling that the priest seemed a bit peculiar. Just earlier, the priest had stopped him, as if harboring some hidden agenda.
As time ticked away, roughly ten minutes later, a figure slowly appeared in the room.
Alex: “Mr. Pat, have you found anything?”
Alex had just returned to his room, but that didn’t mean Angel had come back with him. Angel had immediately gone to the south side of Ghust Town to investigate the incident site.
“Two more people are dead, and besides that…” Angel paused, his expression suddenly turning dark.
Alex waited in confusion for Angel’s next words.
“In addition to that, I’ve seen the culprits.”
“Really? Was it Knight Reven?” Alex was shocked and immediately asked.
Angel shook his head, “No, it’s not Knight Reven or Camille; it’s two other people.”
As Angel said this, an illusory force surrounding his consciousness slowly materialized two figures in front of him. One appeared to be a plump woman, and the other was an extremely emaciated, sickly-looking man.
Angel: “These two are also ghosts.”
Alex swallowed hard, staring intently at the two illusory figures, murmuring, “I recognize both of them. One is Mrs. Martin, who disappeared yesterday. It seems she also met a tragic fate. The other is…”
“Mr. Shrek, who passed away two years ago.”
The revelation sent an even colder chill through Alex than the idea of knights committing the murders. Could it be that all the victims had turned into ghosts?
Although Alex had previously entertained such a notion, he still couldn’t bring himself to believe it.
After a significant pause to digest this startling news, Alex regained his composure and asked, “Mr. Pat, where did they go in the end?”
Could knowing the whereabouts of these ghosts lead him to the person controlling them?
Angel shook his head: “They blended into the surrounding air and vanished.”
“They disappeared?”
“In my view, it’s more like they’ve entered another special space within the cage.” Of course, there’s also a slim possibility that the ghosts left the cage altogether.
Another special space? Alex didn’t understand what that meant, but before he could inquire further, Angel dropped another bombshell.
“Besides these two ghosts, I also captured the shadow of a living person on the scene. A human, not a ghost.”
Alex’s head snapped up: “A living person? The puppeteer?”
“Perhaps, my view wasn’t entirely clear because the human figure was the first to vanish. All I saw was a blurry silhouette. What I can confirm is that it was a human. They took the corpse of the murdered person into the special space I mentioned.”
“What was their gender, any distinguishing features?” Alex eagerly inquired.
“I don’t know,” replied Angel, who was currently bodiless and relying solely on a small portion of illusion magic power, making it challenging to swiftly gather information from the scene. “As for features… the silhouette seemed somewhat hunched.”
Being hunched could be considered a distinct feature, but in Ghust Town, if there aren’t seven hundred hunched individuals, there are certainly eight hundred.
The likelihood of identifying someone based solely on this feature is low.
“Regardless, one thing is certain: the puppeteer is very likely still in Ghust Town,” said Alex.
“In addition to this information, the special space itself is also useful data,” Angel’s illusion slowly vanished, transforming into a white cage.
Until yesterday, they had merely considered this world a white cage. But today’s information confirmed the existence of another, special space. Angel lightly touched his finger, and a shadow appeared under the white cage, illuminated by the light, it appeared like a black cage. Perhaps this black cage is that special space.
After Angel had relayed what he had seen, he posed a question, “Why are these people being killed?”
Yesterday, the death of Anthony and the disappearance of Mrs. Martin had led them to speculate whether these two had seen the face of Knight Reven, thereby becoming targets.
Today’s situation was odd. Whether it was the daytime murder or the two individuals who just died, there were no specific connections between them.
Why did they kill them?
“Could it be that they were seen while looking for Lady Connie around town?” Alex still used yesterday’s logic to speculate.
Angel: “They were definitely looking for Lady Connie, but if they were searching conspicuously, more people should have seen them. If they were searching secretly, it would be difficult for others to discover them.”
“I heard Mr. Pat say that ghosts are inherently violent. Could it just be a simple case of a desire to kill?”
“If it were the ghosts doing the killing, then more than just a few people would be dead.”
After dismissing several guesses in succession, the reason for the killing suddenly became a mystery.
Suddenly, a thought flashed through Alex’s mind: “If it’s not because of the ghosts, could it be the puppeteer’s influence? Unable to find Lady Connie, the one controlling the ghosts starts to escalate the situation, and it could eventually spiral out of control?”
While Angel thought this speculation could be possible, it was still just that — a speculation. Nothing could be concluded without identifying the puppeteer.
At this point, Alex took out the case files he had compiled, intending to trace any clues to the puppeteer.
However, Angel suddenly said: “When we were in the lookout tower earlier, Father Bertrand’s behavior seemed a bit odd, don’t you think?”
Alex paused for a moment, then nodded, “It was indeed strange, but he’s likely not the puppeteer.”
Because Father Bertrand had spent the entire day yesterday with the sheriff, and was also present during the recent incident, it was safe to say that Father Bertrand was not the puppeteer.
“Based on the timeline, he indeed can’t be the puppeteer. But we can’t be sure that there’s only one puppeteer,” Angel said. Then, changing the tone, added, “Of course, judging from Father Bertrand’s behavior over the past two days, and his reverence for death, just like you said, I also don’t believe he is the puppeteer. However——”
“His behavior is odd; it’s as if he knows something.”
Earlier, after hearing the scream, Angel rushed to the scene of the incident immediately. When he returned, he found that Father Bertrand was still in the watchtower, staring intently at the location of the incident with a heavy expression.
This somberness was so profound that it made Angel sense a sense of despair within him.
It was this feeling that led Angel to believe that Father Bertrand might not be the puppet master behind the scenes, but he definitely knew some insider information.
There was also something that Angel was concerned about but didn’t share with Alex.
Angel has had a premonition, or perhaps it’s the instinctual intuition of a wizard, that Alex, like him an “outsider,” could very well be the reason for this world’s cage-like existence.
If this hypothesis is correct, then there is a question mark hanging over the people close to Alex.
Especially Father Bertrand… who saved Alex, adopted him, and has been diligently brainwashing him with the Holy Scriptures.
After a long silence, Alex nodded: “Father Bertrand might indeed know something. However, based on my understanding of him, if he doesn’t want to share something, no one will be able to get an answer out of him.”
“That might not necessarily be the case. After all, the current situation has evidently changed, and he might also become a potential victim,” Angel replied.
Angel’s words reminded Alex of what Father Bertrand had previously told him: “At least, under the blessing of the Father God, the Church of Kruja will be safe.”
Did the subtext of this statement mean that as long as they stayed within the Church of Kruja, they would be safe?
Did Father Bertrand say this intentionally or unintentionally?
And why?
Alex finally nodded and said, “When the time is right, I’ll test the waters with Father Bertrand.”
…
The curtain of night lifted, ushering in a new day in the morning light.
What should have been a hopeful morning was marred by the pallor of a murder that took place last night, completely shrouding the entire town of Ghust in gloom.
Ghust is a much larger town than expected, with a population nearing ten thousand.
With so many people, the death of one or two would typically cause alarm only for a portion of the population. Many others might feel they’ve dodged a bullet, indifferent, without giving a second thought to the misfortune of others.
However, when there are consecutive deaths involving people of varying identities, statuses, and residences, the lines of social hierarchy blur.
Nobody can say for sure whether they’d be one of the fortunate ones if the serial killer were to strike again.
As a result, nearly everyone in Ghust Town starts to grow anxious.
But anxiety manifests in different ways.
The vast majority continue with their daily routines, tucking their fears away deep inside, powerless to change their circumstances.
A very small group allows anxiety to seep into their lives. Some huddle at home, paralyzed with fear; some go to the church to recite Holy Scriptures, praying for divine intervention; others seek the protection of the local law enforcement and knightly orders.
While these may seem like reasonable responses, there is a segment of the population that believes they are making a good choice, unaware they are walking towards the abyss.
Standing at the top of the church, Alex watches as more than a dozen people with their luggage head toward the outskirts of the town.
Without a doubt, these people have chosen to leave Ghust, in hopes that distance will keep them safe from a murderous fate.
But what they don’t realize is that leaving doesn’t necessarily mean hope; it might instead be a step closer to true despair.
Chapter 1492 Bad News Comes in Waves <TOC> Chapter 1494 Breaking the Cage